Brain Centers
Throughout each week, students can choose to work in "Brain Centers" where choices include Literacy activities like sentence construction, sight word matching, magnetic letter spelling, weekly word hunts. play dough words, write and roll, and Math activities which include 100s chart investigations, counting up and counting back math games, pattern block puzzles, math fact towers, and domino addition. This time of day is a highlight in our class where students can actively choose the area of learning they would like to focus on. Many of our Brain Center activities have been added thanks to the class's wonderful support in donating school supplies and materials from the Wish List. Thank you so much for your continued help in growing our children's classroom needs.
Math
We enjoy the wonderful hands-on activities Math brings to our school day. This week, students are working on a shape picture chapter book. Each chapter of our classroom book will be devoted to a specific shape. Within that chapter, the Cottontails have the chance to become illustrators, illustrating various objects in our classrooms, homes, and community that fit that designated chapter's shape. Come take a look at our chapter book progress. From number investigations to pattern block shapes, to building with geometric solids…we love math time in the Cottontail classroom.
Math - Creating Our Own Pattern Block Puzzles
Math - Using 10 Frames to "Guess the Number"
Math - Building with Geometric Solids
Science
We have fallen in love with all things fabric. Thank you so much for taking the time to bring in your child's necessary fabric needs. We have completed a number of fabric projects and will begin making our special fleece blankets next week.
Science - Fabric Collages
From fabric collages to fabric people we have had so much fun cutting, gluing, and working with fabric. Students began their study with fabric by using various fabric pieces to assemble a fabric college. Students then identified and labeled fabrics they used.
Science - Fabric People
Then after reading the book The Colors of Us, students were excited to create their own colorful people finding the just right pieces of fabric to dress their paper person. It was fun to watch our paper people come to life, with bright fabric clothing and accessories, hand drawn faces, and yarn hair. In the coming days, our fabric people will be on display. See if you can find your child's mini fabric person.
Writing - Seeds Come to Life
We have been using our Seed Journal to brainstorm various writing seeds (ideas). Topics have include dream seeds, Winter seeds, 100th day seeds, and changing the world seeds. Students are excited to write and their confidence in hearing letter sounds is growing. The Cottontails are beginning to ask if they can "kid spelling" and are eager to rely on their own spelling abilities rather than a post-it note. As writing seeds grow, we add pictures and revise our writing to make it publishable. Students have published works in a variety of ways: through city wide contest submissions, through Authors' Cocoa booklets, through Partner Books, and through illustrated works displayed in the classroom. In the coming days, our Writing Center will be growing where students can use their Brain Center time (as well as other times of the day) to strengthen their writing skills, their writing eagerness, and their quick growing writing confidence. Be sure to check out some of our written work at Friday's Authors' Cocoa. We are proud of our writing and can't wait to show it to you.
Writing - At Home Work
The Cottontails are coming to school eager to share their homework successes. Thank you for encouraging your child to work on activities at home. I am eager to hear what is working for your family and what ideas you have to further your child's growing abilities. After having the Weekly Words "we", "will" and "you" in a row for consecutive nights, Quinn began chanting "We will rock you" all the while banging out the beat on his family's countertop. This prompted him to add the word "rock" to his flashcard collection. What a perfect idea, add words your child is interested in, have them use them in a sentence, and/ or create beats or songs to help with word identification. Thank you, Laura, for capturing this precious moment.
Learning is happen all around! I am beyond proud of your child and their work throughout the year!
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